Design Gadgets! Win Valuable Prizes!

Devotees of the Gadget Freak, here’s your chance to put your engineering creativity to work and win money at the same time. The MAKE/Design News Gadget Freak Design Contest will award prizes to the best gadget designs involving sensing, motion, timing and/or networking elements. The contest’s Grand Prize winner will receive $1,000 and a chance to sell their gadget in kit form in the Makers Market, with setup and monthly fees waived for six months.

            If you’re not familiar with the Gadget Freak but are nevertheless a committed gadgeteer, we suggest you look at the Gadget Freak web page. Gadget Freak contributors have designed society-changing mechanisms ranging from propane-powered potato guns to a “Billy Bass” fish that sings Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song.

            If you’re interested – and who wouldn’t be? – you’ll need to include a project description, build instructions and a bill of materials, along with visual documentation of your gadget (video is preferable). Also, be sure to add your project photos to the contest’s Flickr group so you can share your ideas with other gadget freaks.

            Winners will receive the following:

            Grand Prize (one winner) — $1,000 in the form of a pre-paid credit card, along with a “storefront” in the Maker’s Market.

            Second Prize (one winner) — $500 in the form of a pre-paid credit card.

            Third Prize (two winners) — $100 Maker Shed Gift Certificate.